THE NONEQUIVALENCE OF HIGH-SCHOOL EQUIVALENTS

This article analyzes the causes and consequences of the growing propo rtion of high-school-certified persons who achieve that status by exam certification rather than through high school graduation. Exam-certif ied high school equivalents are statistically indistinguishable from h igh school dropouts. Whatever differences are found among exam-certifi ed eqiuivalents, high school dropouts and high school graduates are ac counted for by their years of schooling completed. There is no cheap s ubstitute for schooling. The only payoff to exam certification arises from its value in opening postsecondary schooling and training opportu nities, but completion rates for exam-certified graduates are much low er in these activities than they are for ordinary graduates.